MDS turns to medical division for growth
Published:Tuesday | September 27, 2016 | 12:00 AM
Medical Disposables & Supplies Limited (MDS) is in talks with different international firms to distribute their medical supplies and has already added three sales agents in anticipation of the new business, says General Manager Kurt Boothe.
Boothe said MDS aims to grow the portfolio of distributed brands under its medical division but would not identify the products, saying only that they span "a wider area than we are currently supplying".
The expansion will focus on "what we see as niche or underserved areas within the hospital segment and other medical facilities, which lie outside the company's stronghold and the pharmacy network," Boothe told the company's annual general meeting on Tuesday.
He said the 17-year-old company has carefully managed its growth over the years opting to focus on its pharmaceutical division. But now that the company "is confident that things are manageable in that area, we are looking for new growth areas," he said.
For the first quarter ended June 30, 2016, MDS posted revenues of $425 million, a 46 per cent or $134 million increase over the corresponding 2015 quarter.
The performance is the highest quarterly sales revenue in the company's history and reflects progress in meeting newly crafted strategic targets to increase product offerings and widening of the customer base in all categories of its business operations, the company said in its financial filings to the stock exchange.
There was, however, a decrease in net profit, which closed the period at $17.8 million, down by $1.5 million or eight per cent over the corresponding 2015 quarter.
MDS attributed the dip in net profit to the increase in non-operational expenses during the period, which saw an $8-million increase to $12.5 million for the period.